July 12, 2026
Late bucket puts Toronto Tempo over New York Liberty in Montreal
A tightly contest match between the Toronto Tempo and the New York Liberty was decided by a bucket in the dwindling seconds of Sunday afternoons game at the Bell Center, in what was a thrilling second WNBA game in Montreal, as part of the Cross-Canada series which travels to British Columbia next month.
On Friday, Montreal set a new league-wide attendance record when 20 996 people filled the Bell Center, beating the previous record by 250 people to become to highest attended game in the WNBA’s thirty year history – and neither team that played were a Montreal-based team at that.
See Also: Tempo lose to the Dallas Wings, but set new records in the process
Montreal and the Bell Center can boast at having drawn the biggest WNBA crowd, the biggest PWHL crowd, and the biggest NHL crowd not counting the outdoor classics.
Despite being the new kids on the block; an expansion team, the Toronto Tempo have been impressive and are currently in a battle with the Washington Mystics for the eight and final playoff spot – and guess who Toronto plays following this afternoon’s Montreal matinee! First though, was a New York Liberty team that had sounded beat them in their last match-up and without their star Sabrina Ionescu to boot.
Early on, rookies Laura Juskaite and Maria Conde dominated the court and combined for twelve points in the second quarter alone. The pair really seem to be finding chemistry of late, and are starting to know where each other are on the court. Tonight though, they looked especially at ease and round room to maneuver and have their way with the Wings.
At halftime, the Tempo held an eight point lead (47 – 39) and were looking good doing so.
Onto the third quarter, where the Toronto Tempo took off with Marina Mabrey heating up and joining the two European rookies in the points parade. Toronto sank thirty-three points in the third quarter alone and looked to be rolling to an easy, yet strongly contest, high energy win.
The audience was electric late in the fourth quarter, jumping to their feet each time Toronto scored, cheering on what on any other day would be a rival cities team. While a solid collection of New York Liberty shirts and hats could be seen scattered around the arena, in that hard to mistake teal tint, the crowd were mostly pulling for the Tempo. Not only did the people show up for both games, but they supported the Toronto Tempo like it was their own team. I pondered to myself, how crazy would these people go for a real Montreal squad, in this building.
As was the case against the Dallas Wings at the Bell Center on Friday, the Tempo seemed to slow or gas out towards the end of the game and allow their opponent back into the contest. While it came back to burn them against Dallas, this afternoon, the Tempo found just enough fuel in their tank to sick a two-point throw with just seconds left on the clock, to go ahead and stay ahead for the victory.
With the scoreboard indicating a one-point game, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton of the New York Liberty was tossed after receiving a second technical foul – this time for throwing her teammates how at Mabrey. For her part, Mabrey kept her cool but was visibly annoyed by the incident. Laney-Hamilton pleaded that she was just yrying to return the shoe to her teammate, but the referee wasn’t buying what she was selling.
Toronto, of late, have been known to lack energy in the final frame of games and whether that is due to injuries to key players or something else, remains a cause for concern. It reared its ugly head Friday night against the Dallas Wings and was showing signs that it may again show up to bite the Tempo tonight, despite them having played a very strong game overall.
The New York Liberty started the fourth frame on an absolute rampage, quickly closing the score down and briefly taking the lead in the match. With the game tied at 91 a piece, and just seconds to play, Nyara Sabally stepped into the paint and put up a layup that would be the final scoring play of what had been a brilliant contested game of basketball.
Toronto Tempo star Marina Mabrey finished the afternoon with thirty points, while the New York Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu put up a very respectable twenty-eight. Ionescu again showed why she was the 2020 first overall draft pick with a dominant display on the court.
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With that, the Toronto Tempo will return home to host the Washington Mystics on July 14th, while the New York Liberty will continue their road trip with a visit to the lone-star state and a date with the Dallas Wings on July 16th.
For Montreal, however, the dream of a franchise of our own continues with hope for some more visits soon, be that from the Tempo or the Long Island Nets. The hometown Montreal Alliance of the Canadian Elite Basketball League has a few games left to play in their season, for those craving more courtside action.
